Landlords in Victoria could be required to make potentially significant alterations to their properties before leasing them out as the state governement considers the idea of minimum condition standards for rental properties

As a landlord, I would not be totally against this proposal but the requirements need to be realistic and practical. I am sure the list could be refined so as not to impact costs too much for the owner of a 'reasonably' tidy property, and possibly a new form for letting agents to use a checklist prior to letting the property.

This is clearly government overreach which, while well-meaning, will result in more renters sleeping in their cars as under $250/ week housing options become as elusive as Lasseter's Reef.

A better approach would be a standard disclosure form where landlords have to indicate the availability of various services - and let the renter decide whether they see value. For some renters internet access would be regarded as an essential utility. For others, it may be completely unimportant.

The second highest driver of housing cost is Government mandated up-specifying of residential housing. The industry is simply unable to build homes that are affordable for a large percentage of our population.

What is happening which most landlords are not aware of is that the submissions to this review are massively skewed in favour of the tenant. This is due to there being 11 agencies funded by Consumer Affairs who put in lengthy submissions with suggestions that would make the average landlord give up the will to invest in residential housing in Victoria.

I have put in two so far and they have taken in excess of 30 hours each so I can not recommend that every one do one, what I would recommend is that any Victorian Landlord take a look at the http://fairersaferhousing.vic.gov.au/public-submissions/documents to see what we might end up with. If you are then worried at the very least submit a one page letter pointing out your concern about the imbalance in the input in favour of tenants and how the end result may not reflect the needs/wants of landlords/investors/ and ultimately Victorian Renters when there is an exodus of investors getting out of the market.